The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-12-28

| Somebody at the Bottom of an Ingeniou
Scheme, WhicI, May Help the postmas
ters, but Will Certai ly Put Money II
Somebody's Pure.
WASHINGTON, December 18.-Con
gresham Tillman, of South Carolina
Claims to have discovered what he terms
Gigantic attempt to make q raid or
the treasury, by combination or syn
dicate, supposed to be working in the
interest of fourth class postmasters
Since the meeting Of Congress Senators
and Representatives have received by
almost every mail numerous printed
petitions, with long lists of signatures
attached, urging Congress to pass Law
to increase tie salary of fourth-class
postmasters, according to the following
scale:
1.-THE postmaster who opens and closes
one mail per week to receive $50 PEI
quarter; two mails per week, S25, and SO
Oh, increasing quarterly salary Of s. fo1
each additional mail opened and closed
per week, until the limit OF $3.50 per
quarter is reached" The petition further
states chat "when the salary of post
master as fixed by this law exceeds the
amount of stamps sold at bis Office the
postmaster shall retain to the credit of
his salary the amount of stamps sold,
snd the department shall, on the adjust
ment of his account, issue him check
on the treasury, for the balance. If the
amount Of stamps sold should exceed
the salary of the postmaster he shall,
after deducting the amount of his salary,
deposit the balance in the treasury"
Mr.. Tillman says he has received sew
eral hundred Of these petitions from al
most every postmaster in his district,
and he probably would not have mede
the discovery had not the postmasters in
forwarding his petition sent e'tco much. "
What he terms s'too much" is a printed
circular Of instructions prepared and dis
tributed among fourth-class rostmasters
by the party or parties who are leading
in the proposed raid on the treasury,
and which gives the movement in favor
of the proposed increase very much the
appearance of an organized "job." The
sinstructions" are in substance for each
postmaster to get every signature he can
to the printed petition, regardless of
race, color or SEX" and then "write q
short personal letter" to his Congress
man, stating that the applicant has got
"the most prominent citizens of the
vicinity" to unite in petitioning for the
increase and asking for the matter the
educ consideration it so Justly deserves. !"
The circulars calls for contribution Of
twenty-five cents, or more, in pursuance
of an agreement" plainly referred to,
to pay the expenses Of the getting up Of
the circulars, etc., and the postmaster is
eDjoined 10 send the money in silver in a
registered letter, as he will "get the can
collation. of the stamps" and be at no
coss therefor sending it. The tel-tale
document closes with the confident as
surance that eff We will all do our duty
we can get our bill through Congress, ?"
which remains to be proved.
Mr.. Tiliman exhibited copy of the
above to many of his Congressional asso-
ciates, and while majority of them are
disposed to assist overworked and poor
ly paid postmssters, they seriously OBJ
ject to aiding the authors of the cir ,ular,
who are evidently making a harvest Of
TWENTY-FIVE cent piaces